[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/GrrlPower http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ascendedfangirl_1544.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:300:A recently ascended fangirl [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything comes out]] to her parents.]]->''"To become a crime fighter you have to study ''Batman'' movies. But even better than studying his movies is if you can follow him around and do what he does in real life."''-->-- '''''Webcomic/AxeCop'''''

Some fans are a cut above the regular {{otaku}}. For most, it is as simple as [[PromotedFanboy being hired to work in the industry that deals with the media you love]], but in fiction, it can take a whole new meaning. The AscendedFanboy is that lucky one-in-a-million with a hobby based on something imaginary which does not stay imaginary--it turns into reality, and he becomes a part of it himself.

A variation is where it is imaginary to us but not in the context of the world, such as a mecha fan, in a world full of mecha, getting to pilot one.

For those lucky few, they receive the CallToAdventure, and ask: "[[JumpedAtTheCall How high?]]" Naturally, it is [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor never so easy or glamorous as they thought it would be]], but they've got the right stuff, and a whole lot of BeginnersLuck to last them until it comes out. As a side effect, they're usually GenreSavvy, sometimes to the point of excess. Of course you know, he could be [[WrongGenreSavvy wrong]].

Often a former TheTeamWannabe. Subtrope of AudienceSurrogate. Compare TheKnightsWhoSaySquee. Contrast with LoonyFan. See also IKnowMortalKombat, which often results in this.

'''Note:''' This trope is for in-universe examples. For the RealLife counterpart, see PromotedFanboy.

This has nothing to do with ''that'' [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence kind of ascension]], at least unless the fan really likes [[Series/StargateSG1 Daniel Jackson]].

[[noreallife]]----!!Examples

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[[folder:Anime & Manga]]* Gai Daigoji of ''Manga/MartianSuccessorNadesico'', although he's quickly supplanted in skill by the less eager Akito. Akito's greater skill might be due to the fact that he trained throughout the series, and [[spoiler:Gai dies in the third episode]].* Noa Izumi from ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'' yearned for joining the Special Vehicles Unit because she was such a MechaShow fangirl her dream was piloting a giant robot, even if she knew Labors were not at all like ''Anime/MazingerZ'', ''Manga/GetterRobo'' or ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. Still she got pretty disappointed when she was told that no, a Labor does not fly.* Edward from ''Manga/CowboyBebop'' is a fangirl of the eponymous bounty hunters...and becomes part of their group after she assists them with collecting a bounty.* ''Anime/CorrectorYui'' is about a MagicalGirl {{otaku}} that is attempting to write such a story herself. Of course, the CallToAdventure makes the perfect inspiration.* Gun-otaku Kouta Hirano from ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead''. He's actually very good at handling the weapons he gushes over, he just didn't expect to need these skills in real life in order to fight zombies. He is often told that some of the things he claims (like being trained by Blackwater USA during a trip to America) make him sound like a manga character.** One part of Blackwater's business is firearms and tactical training. All you have to do is pay a few thousand dollars and they'll teach anyone how to shoot military weapons like a professional. Many Japanese gun enthusiasts go on overseas trips just to go shoot guns, especially in Guam.* The manga ''Manga/{{Ratman}}'' revolves around an interesting subversion. The story takes place TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. Advances in technology have ushered in the era of superheroes. Shuto Katsuragi wants nothing more than to be a great superhero. But things don't go exactly as he planned, as he is [[BoundAndGagged kidnapped]] and [[JumpedAtTheCall tricked]] into becoming the world's first AntiHero.* The professor from the one-man-band short film ''Film/NegadonTheMonsterFromMars'' (See it, if just for the CGI alone.) After accidentally killing his daughter during a test run, he squirrels away the giant robot Miroku after the army is embarrassed by the disaster and cancels the project. Though he doesn't want to ever use the robot again because of the terrible memories, it has been kept in prime working condition, and certainly a few of its abilities couldn't have been thought up(or approved) by stuffy PR-hound regulation-happy army generals so he most likely continued work on it on his own free time. When normal military hardware proves ineffective against Negadon, he brings out the mothballed mecha. Also he looks disturbingly similar to Otakon, only 30 years older.* [[spoiler:Mikami Teru]] of ''Manga/DeathNote'' is a particularly disturbing example of this, being a lawyer who is overjoyed to be chosen by his "god" to ''[[HangingJudge kill]]'' [[HangingJudge those people he judges]] [[JusticeWillPrevail to be unjust]]. "SAKUJO!", indeed.* The protagonist of ''Forbidden Kingdom'' fits the bill perfectly. Until he decides to go home.* Most of the cast of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' are Ascended Fanboys: Takato, Henry, Kazu, and Kenta were all fans of the Digimon TV show and games before finding out that Digimon were real, and Takato's partner Guilmon is his fanart come to life. Rika was also a card game champion, but her focus on winning and apathy toward everything else made her more of an obsessive player than an actual fan of the franchise. Juri who claimed to not like the card game but was a closet fangirl and even had ''very'' rare cards.* Aoba from ''Anime/JinkiExtend'' is an Ascended Fan''girl'' who loves mecha anime and building models based on them... and ends up piloting a mech herself.* The GenreSavvy Momoko/Blossom of ''Anime/DemashitaPowerpuffGirlsZ'' always wanted to be a transforming, justice-defending MagicalGirl.* Heavily subverted in ''Anime/TheTwelveKingdoms'', where the main character Youko's classmate Yuuka Sugimoto seems like one of these at first -- [[spoiler:it doesn't work out so well, she ends up working for the BigBad, and eventually she learns AnAesop of some sort and goes back home.]]* Akio Suzuka in ''Manga/KoiKoi7'' was and still is a major {{Sentai}} fangirl. After the incident that gives her [[HollywoodCyborg cyborg]] [[FlyingBrick superpowers]], this allows her a chance to be one of her heroes.* 'The ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' franchise has a few examples:** Subverted by young Chang in ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', who painfully finds out that FallingIntoTheCockpit of a Gundam isn't how he thought it would be. AT ALL.** A rather disturbing version in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'': Clotho Bauer is a videogame nut and psychotic criminal who, along with Shani Andras and Orga Sabnak, was made a PsychoForHire TykeBomb and Gundam pilot. Heck, Clotho even yells videogame quotes in the midst of battle!** Tragically played with in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny''. Meer Campbell was a NaiveEverygirl who fangirled the IdolSinger Lacus Clyne and had a similar singing voice, so she often sang her songs. She was later scouted by Durandal's people, who offered her the chance to become Lacus's BodyDouble after she goes into retirement; Meer [[JumpedAtTheCall immediately accepted]], thinking she could finally do something for the people who need Lacus's support... [[spoiler: but as the series progressed, Meer developed *serious* mental and emotional issues, which later brought her her downfall.]]** Another would be Takuya Irei from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'': an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent ''slash'' Mobile Suit {{Otaku}}. By the time he was rescued by the ''[[CoolStarship Nahel Argama]]'' after escaping the battle at Industrial 7, he got a chance to put his [[TheEngineer engineering skills]] to good use as one of the ship's mechanics, to the point that he came up with the titular mech's MidSeasonUpgrade. ** And then there's [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Graham "GUNDAM, I LOVE YOU!" Aker]]. [[PlayedStraight Full. Stop.]]* Subverted by Gainer Sanga of ''Anime/OvermanKingGainer''. While Gainer is a huge fan of giant robot fighting games, he's only piloting a giant robot to save his friends who are going on Exodus, since he understands the difference between Real Life and a video game. It becomes a plot point when his video game rival turned Rival in real life, Cynthia Lane, doesn't understand the difference and is shocked when her fight with Gainer ends with Gainer injured.* In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Judai (Jaden in English) actually becomes excited when he learns that Shadow Games can make his favorite trading cards come alive when he plays with them, let alone when he learns he can save the world using his deck.* Usagi in ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' is a subversion. She was a fan of ''Manga/CodenameSailorV'' for much of the early story, but being given her own superpowers doesn't stop her from [[IJustWantToBeNormal just wanting to be normal]]. It comes across as particularly weird how she still acts like a standard-issue FanGirl in spite of this.* Deconstructed in ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys''. Kenji's childhood fantasies of evil alien invaders are used by a cult as the basis for taking over the world themselves, forcing him to step into the role of the hero he always saw himself as in the scenarios. [[EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt It... doesn't work out too well.]]* In the "Shanghai Dragon" segment of the ''Genius Party''(2007) anthology, a snot-nosed 5-year old outcast discovers a device that can make his doodles come to life. When alien invaders attack, he remembers his favorite Sentai tv series, but I won't spoil what happens next.* Renge from ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' is a huge otaku who came to Ouran in the first place because Kyouya resembles a character from a dating sim that she obsesses over. She ''is'' a part of a romantic comedy, even if Kyouya's not her prince and she isn't the heroine, and she has a blast with the Host Club. Kirimi is too, in a way, despite being a little girl ("reversed harem," indeed).* In the ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' anime, the games exist in the show's version of Earth. Main character Genki is a big fan of the games, and when he gets a mysterious CD in the mail, he inserts it into his brand X, {{Playstation}}-like game console (a reference to the actual game in which you put in various various [=CDs=] to acquire the game's various {{mons}}), and the next thing he knows he ends up in the world of Monster Rancher where he travels with a girl named Holly and her assistant Suezo (one of the game's monsters) fighting baddies, and finding mystery discs that contain various monsters.* In ''Anime/{{Blassreiter}}'', [[spoiler: Malek]] becomes a tragic example when he becomes a [[spoiler:Amalgam]] just like his racing champ hero, Gerd Frentzen.* ''Manga/OnePiece''** Luffy's entire backstory is essentially him fanboying over Shanks, then deciding he's going to be even better than him and putting that into action. He is more likely to find his opponents' destructive powers of doom SOOOO COOL than to find it terrifying. In particular, he seems to like mechas and giant robots (a trait even his shadow-zombie Oz shared). In an ultimate ascended fanboy moment, Mr. 3 made him a wax battle suit so he could hit his poisonous opponent without ending up like he had when he'd tried punching the guy with bare fists. He practically cries from happiness at the opportunity.** Arc villain Hodi was a huge fan of BigBad Arlong and the Sun Pirates when he was younger.** In a RealLife example, The Rootless, the band who created One Day, the 13th opening, wanted to do an opening for ''One Piece'' since they started.** [[spoiler:Bartolomeo is not only sociopathic asshole may be worse than Eustass Kid, but also a ''massive'' fanboy of Luffy ever since Loguetown, having followed Luffy's journey from then on to Marineford before finally setting sail himself.]]* In ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', Renton idolizes Holland and Gekkostate, and is thrilled when one of their members literally crash lands in his yard and he eventually gets to join them. Of course, [[spoiler: [[BrokenPedestal this joy is short lived]] but eventually it gets better.]]* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', military otaku Kensuke Aida is convinced that mechas are the coolest thing EVAR and spends nearly the entire series [[WrongGenreSavvy expecting]] to become a pilot, even begging Shinji to pull some strings (despite the fact that Shinji has no influence whatsoever). He's never picked, of course -- but [[spoiler:his jock friend Toji, who strongly dislikes mechas and NERV, is]].** In several video game adaptations and AlternateUniverse manga, he does however get to become an Evangelion pilot.* ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows''** Keima Katsuragi, though he hates it because real girls are inferior to 2D ones.** Later on, Elsie, who is a fan of the [[IdolSinger pop-idol]] Kanon, has to take her place when the real girl is [[spoiler:put into a coma by Vintage]]. Luckily Elsie has a magic robe that can change her appearance and has memorized all of Kanon's songs and dances, but there are still a few...inconsistencies.-->'''[[OurDemonsAreDifferent Elsie]]:''' It's a Nekumaru Hellcat!\\'''Game Show Host:''' Kanon, stop saying weird things!* Kirito from ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''. He was a gamer and after he got trapped in and escaped the virtual reality game SAO. The skills he learned from the game allowed him to beat up the guy that kidnapped his girlfriend.* Kotetsu T. Kaburagi/Wild Tiger from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' was a superhero fanboy long before he actually became a superhero himself. When he's feeling down, he cheers himself up by old footage of his favorite hero, Mr. Legend.* Maho from ''Manga/WanderingSon'' is a major fan of the model Maiko. She eventually began working at the same modeling agency as her.* Cross a continent and an ocean to train as a samurai in Japan. That's what Stephanie from ''Anime/KazemakaseTsukikageRan'' wanted to do, because she was a fan of a book series. She quickly learns that [[BrokenPedestal most samurai are thugs or drunkards or something else disappointing]]. Instead of being depressed, she decides to "beat the guts" back into them.* Subaru Nakajima of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' is the title character's FanGirl and pursued a career in the military so she could be like her idol someday. She ended up working with her on two major cases.* Hilariously averted in ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure''. While searching for the third Precure, young fairy Potpourri finds Ban, an inspiring manga artist the girls befriended earlier, in the middle of figuring out how ''his'' third Precure would act in his comics. Inspired by his devotion, Potpourri decides he would be the third Precure. However, when Ban starts imagining how it would be like, Potpourri panics and bolts as [[BrainBleach the image hits him.]]* Hiroko in ''Manga/AKB49RenaiKinshiJourei'' is a huge fan of the idol group Music/AKB48 and aspired to join them. The plot of the manga starts to kick off after she succeeded in passing the auditions to become a trainee member of [=AKB48=].** The entire main cast of AKB0048 is this, as all of the understudies live up to and aspire to one day join the main team.* Tachimukai in ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' was originally a big fan of Endou, and even learned to be a goalkeeper by watching Endou on video repeatedly and mimicking him. He ends up as Endou's teammate and friend, and even gets to fill in for Endou as goalkeeper on several occasions.* Genki from ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' is a huge fan of the games and when he plays the prototype game, he gets sucked into the game itself, going on a quest and fighting alongside with the monsters.* Mahiro from ''LightNovel/HaiyoreNyarkoSan'' gets to experience the less-than-pleasant side of this since his "fandom" is the CthulhuMythos, meaning he now has to deal with {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and other extra-dimensional weirdness, and his only defense is the Crawling Chaos Nyarlathotep -- who just so happens to have fallen in LoveAtFirstSight with him. While most guys would love to have a beautiful silver-haired {{Otaku}} girl throwing herself at them ([[ThisAndThat in more ways than one]]), Mahiro's fully aware that "Nyarko" is really an insanity-inducing cosmic horror, which throws a good bit of cold water on [[DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu any potential attraction]].* ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer'''s resident GenkiGirl [[Main/TankGoodness Tank]] {{Otaku}} Yukari Akiyama gets to be a crew member of one of her school's tanks, [[spoiler: more so one commanded by her idol, a descendant of a famous Tankery family.]] She also got to take command (albeit temporarily) of another tank.** Double (or triple) for the members of Anteater team - [[spoiler: a trio of {{Gamer Chick}}s who claim to have met at [[VideoGame/WorldOfTanks an online tank game]].]]* Aito in ''Manga/MangakasanToAssistantsanTo'' is a {{downplayed|trope}} example, and is more similar to a RealLife example of a PromotedFanboy. How? He is a perverted otaku with a PantyShot fetish who became a commercial mangaka whose first work is full of panty shots.* In the final episodes of ''Manga/BambooBlade'', Tama and Rin both achieve Promoted Fangirl status when they get to act in an episode of their favorite {{toku}} show, ''Blade Braver''. They end up taking the position a little too excitedly and completely break away from the script.** They get small parts in the movie, in fact, and Tama derails it by instead of being a schoolgirl running scared from Rin's 'Shinaigirl' she picks up a dropped shinai and ''fights back''. It goes on for a while before they're stopped.* The same thing happens to Seiji and his gang in ''Manga/MidoriNoHibi'', when they get minor parts in a movie starring their favorite actor.* ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'' ** Several of the characters are like this, though of the more down-to-earth variety. The lot of them are college otaku, obsessed with video games, doujinshi, anime, and manga. As the story runs down to the end, one gets a job as a game designer, another as an assistant editor for a manga magazine, and a third as a manga author and artist, and a fourth is going to design school. They are all, also, quite GenreSavvy.* Aine Yukimura from ''Manga/SensualPhrase'' wasn't exactly a fan of the Aucifer band, but she was a prospect song writer with rather... steamy song lyrics. By coincidence, Aucifer singer Sakuya caught a glimpse of them and had his band use these lyrics on-stage. From then on, Aine got hired as the official Aucifer songwriter ''and'' hooked up with Sakuya... too bad her dude is, well, [[DarkAndTroubledPast rather]] [[BrokenAce screwed]] [[BastardBoyfriend up]], to say it politely.* Ayumi Sakagame of ''Anime/PrettyCureAllStars New Stage'' was a slight fan of the Pretty Cures when fate decided to decree that she would become, even temporary, a Cure herself.* William of ''LightNovel/LogHorizon'' was in awe of Debauchery Tea Party and [[TheTeamWannabe wanted to join them]], but they had disbanded before he could. He went on to form one of the most well-respected battle guilds on the Yamato server and eventually [[spoiler:became the dominant force in Susukino]].* ''Anime/TheIdolmasterCinderellaGirls'': in the anime adaptation, Uzuki and Mio worked hard to become idols, and finally catch a break at the start of the series. They can barely contain their excitement when they spot an idol they recognize.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* The graphic artist and ComicBook/GreenLantern Kyle Rayner* To a certain extent, Ragged Robin in Grant Morrison's ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', who essentially writes herself into the story using fan fiction. King Mob also comments on how he now gets to live the crazy science fiction/espionage adventures he always dreamed of as a kid. Considering it's no secret that King Mob is just a cooler version of Morrison...* Franchise/{{Batman}} seems to attract ascended fans, despite his ''constant'' efforts to keep "amateurs" out of "'''''my''''' town." Many of his fellow Bat-Family crimefighters were not actively recruited or trained by him; rather, they became involved on their own and were absorbed into the larger Bat-Family afterwards.** Barbara Gordon, the original ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'' ([[CanonDiscontinuity Not counting]] the Bat-Girl from the 50's and 60's), was dressing up in a costume for a Halloween party when she stumbled into crimefighting. Prior to this, she was either disinterested in costumed adventuring, or was planning to emulate different superheroes (Different continuities give different backstories, but most at least agree that, whatever her specific plans were, they did not involve bats). That first encounter earned her the label "Batgirl" and she was automatically associated with Batman in the public consciousness. Only her subsequent refusal to stop got Batman involved in training and working with her.** [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim Drake]] (the third Robin) also demonstrates this trope. In his origin story he deduces that Dick Grayson must be Robin because of a signature move they both use, spends several years of his childhood stalking and photographing Robin and Batman, and finally confronts Dick and then Bruce Wayne, insisting that "Batman needs a Robin." [Note: this only applies to the comic-book Tim Drake; the {{DCAU}} Tim Drake's backstory is modified from Jason Todd's.]** And the Robin from ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'' Carrie Kelly, who gets the job as Robin after buying the costume and forcing Batman to let her help return Gotham to its [[SarcasmMode former glory.]] Although Carrie's number is kinda messed up cause when Creator/FrankMiller wrote her, Tim, Stephanie and Damian had never been Robins. So one could make an argument for her being the sixth Robin.** ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} also made the leap from unaffiliated hero to partner. She was already actively engaged in crimefighting on her own, explicitly emulating Batman's theme and code despite having never worked for, trained with, or been authorized by Batman. It was only after she had been patrolling Gotham City for several weeks that she encountered Nightwing and cooperated with him to combat the [[ReligionOfEvil Religion of Crime]]. He later gave her a "real" Batarang as a gift, and afterwards she is shown working and sharing information with Batman.** [[PluckyGirl Stephanie Brown]] went from spoiling her father's crimes and becoming the Spoiler to coming into the Batcave with her own Robin costume to ComicBook/{{Batgirl|2009}}. [[TheDeterminator Despite nearly everyone telling her to quit]] [[TheScrappy including a large fraction of the fandom]].** Batman himself is an ascended fanboy, although for meta reasons. In the first Batman comic, the film he goes to see with his parents is ''The Mark of Franchise/{{Zorro}}'', a character that strongly inspired his.* All the YoungAvengers, but particularly Hulkling and Wiccan. Some are also {{Legacy Character}}s.* Victor Mancha in ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' was a huge superhero fan. It took the main cast storming his high school field to make him realize he actually had powers of his own. Subverted as he was [[spoiler:programmed]] to be like that.* Prime of ''ComicBook/UltraForce'' was a superhero fan who actually became a superhero.* Eddie Bloomberg was a fanboy of ComicBook/BlueDevil for most of that series, and even went as far as to create his own power suit so he could be Blue Devil's sidekick, Kid Devil. Eddie officially ascended years later when he was turned into a real devil and joined the ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''.* ''Franchise/TheFlash'':** In one of the earliest examples, Barry Allen was a big fan of the Flash from TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks. One bolt of lightning later, you have an AscendedFanboy, and TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks is born.** As was Wally West, who dreamed of being like the Flash as a kid (helped along by a visitation from a future version of himself). Then, in an identical repetition of the accident which made Barry Allen the Flash whilst visiting his lab. And thus Kid Flash was born.** The first Professor Zoom is retconned as one of these GoneHorriblyWrong. Eobard Thawne was a fan of Barry Allen from the future who found ways to replicate his powers, costume, and appearance all with the intention of coming back to the past to run alongside Barry. It only goes wrong when he arrives after Barry's death when Wally has already taken over the role. Addled from time travel and the discovery that he will one day become Professor Zoom, he briefly deludes himself into thinking he is Barry and fools everyone else in the process.* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''** Superboy-Prime is an odd example: a kid named Clark Kent who grew up reading DC Comics in the "real" world (or Earth-Prime, or whatever), turned out to have powers just like ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' (he was actually Supes's AlternateUniverse doppelgänger the whole time), gets caught up in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' in what must have seemed like a SelfInsertFic from his perspective, watches his universe die, goes insane, and turns into one of the most dangerous supervillains in TheDCU. Phew. Taken a step further when he finally returns to his home universe, which is all he ever wanted from the beginning, only to learn that his loved ones have been reading about his actions in comic books and are now terrified of him.** ''ComicBook/SupermanSecretIdentity'' is based on much the same premise, but goes in a very different direction and plays with ThisIsReality for all it's worth.* In the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story arc "Confessional", the future Altar Boy moves to Astro City with the intention of becoming a sidekick, working in a superhero bar and a private club for heroes as part of his goal. It eventually works for him.** {{Lampshaded}} when he gets attacked at the superhero club by a villain and defeats him in front of all the heroes. The other busboys then gang up on him, because they're ''all'' hoping to impress the heroes and become a sidekick, and he hadn't been working there as long as them.* Rodney Rabbit was a writer and artist for his Earth's DC Comics, particularly its top-selling superhero team title "''Just'a Lotta Animals''". After events are set into motion by visitors Superman and villain Starro the Conqueror, Rodney himself becomes a superhero and forms his own superhero team, the [[ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew Zoo Crew]].* ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'': Maki Matsumoto became a fan of Bullseye after he inadvertently rescued her when he killed the Yakuza who were planning on selling her into sexual slavery. [[AffirmativeActionLegacy She would later become Lady Bullseye]].* Justice (formerly Marvel Boy) from the NewWarriors and later Comicbook/TheAvengers. In fact, most of his tenure with the Avengers either consisted of him fanboying over getting to work with A-listers like ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, or [[HeroicSelfDeprecation berating himself over not measuring up to his childhood idols]].* Izzy Sinclair is a sci-fi geekette turned ''Series/DoctorWho'' companion in the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comic strip. Destrii, her successor, is an alien who fangirls Earth sci-fi and westerns.* ''ComicBook/CaptainBritainAndMI13'': Faiza Hussain is a superhero fangirl who gets zapped with Skrull AppliedPhlebotinum during the Secret Invasion arc and gets superpowers.* The Comicbook/BlackWidow comic book prequel to ''Film/TheAvengers'' had Natasha being stalked by a crazed fan who wanted to kill her and [[LegacyCharacter take the Black Widow identity for herself]].* Dan Dreiberg of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', a longtime supporter of the masked hero Nite Owl who, with the permission of the original, takes up the name and mantle when his hero retires.* To an extent, almost everyone in ComicBook/SpiderGirl's [[ComicBook/MarvelComics2 universe]], including Mayday herself. Most of them aren't obsessive but they do tend to fangirl/boy their heroes/teams of choice.* Evil Version: Parker Robbins was a fan of Supervillains who later ended up becoming TheHood, one of the {{Big Bad}}s of the Marvel Universe.* ComicBook/SquirrelGirl was an Avengers fan rejected for having the useless power of controlling squirrels. Then she ends up saving Iron Man and defeating SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom. That would be ascended enough, but then she goes on and beats Thanos, Terrax, Deadpool, Mandarin, and others. She's not only ascended, but made her way to the very top of the Marvel universe. She eventually got to (sort of) join the Comicbook/NewAvengers as a nanny for ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} and Comicbook/JessicaJones' daughter.* Ironfist in ''ComicBook/TransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'' was a major fanboy of the Wreckers team, writing extensivly about them under the name "Fisitron". Then he got to join them for their mission to Garrus-9. This did not go well.* One of the primary plot points of the series ''ComicBook/{{52}}'' was the SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor Everyman Project, which could artificially grant superpowers to normal people. This led to countless citizens gaining superpowers and creating their own hero identities (including, in one SplashPanel that included over a dozen of these new heroes, the superhero ''[[BestKnownForTheFanservice Poledancer]]''). Eventually, Luthor creates his own super-team populated by these heroes with Eliza Harmon, who idolized the ComicBook/TeenTitans and all things [[Franchise/TheFlash speed]]. When she became Trajectory and a member of Luthor's new InfinityInc she never stopped hoping to eventually join the Titans, and dreamed of eventually becoming the [[LegacyCharacter new]] Kid Flash.** Two pages [[SacrificialLamb later]]....* Prior to becoming ComicBook/{{Static}}, Virgil Hawkins was a massive comic book fanboy, and thus ends up being pretty GenreSavvy once he becomes a costumed hero. Aside from comic books, it's mentioned that he's a big fan of Franchise/{{Pokemon}} as well.* ''Franchise/{{Marvel 2099}}''** Subverted by ComicBook/SpiderMan2099, Miguel O'Hara may have been inspired to use spider DNA in Alchemax's super-soldier experiments from reading about the original Spider-Man, but he didn't ''intend'' to [[ProfessorGuineaPig test it on himself]], and isn't happy with the results.** Also subverted with [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] 2099: there's a crackpot group called the Knights of the Banner who worship the original Hulk and plan on exposing themselves to gamma radiation. And then Jon Eisenhart, who couldn't care less about Bruce Banner, comes blundering in and gets the effects.** Played straight with ''ComicBook/ThePunisher2099'', who was obsessed with Frank Castle's war journal, and [[TheMightyThor Thor]] 2099, who was a Thorite priest.* In the ComicBook/Ultimate Marvel Universe, the [[Comicbook/UltimateSpiderMan Spider-Man]] identity is taken up by [[AffirmativeActionLegacy a boy named Miles Morales]] after the death of Peter Parker. Miles is shown to be a fan of Spider-Man prior to his death, and stuffed dolls of [[ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour the Thing]] and [[ComicBook/TheUltimate Iron Man]] can be seen in his bedroom.* In ''ComicBook/TheNewWarriors'' comic book, Hindsight Lad managed to track down the Warriors' secret HQ and blackmailed his way onto the team with his knowledge of several of their secret identities. He later earned a legitimate place on the team with his fact-finding skills. Much later, he betrayed [[ComicBook/CivilWar the surviving Warriors]] by secretly leaking several of their identities to an already enraged public, out of a sense of betrayal. This lead to one former Warrior being beaten and hospitalized by an angry mob. (Why ''he'' felt betrayed or why he'd take such a drastic step to "get even" [[WriterOnBoard is never explained adequately.]] Or explained at all, for that matter.)* ''ComicBook/KickAss'', who is a massive comic book geek. So is Red Mist, [[spoiler:even though he wants to be the villain.]] Also, [[spoiler:Big Daddy; he financed his vigilantism by selling classic comic books like [[SpiderMan Amazing Fantasy #15]]...]]* The new ''Comicbook/{{Ms Marvel|2014}}'' was already a fangirl of the fanfic writing, squeeing and obsessing variety before she got exposed to the [[MassEmpoweringEvent Terrigen Mists]] and gained powers. She also decided to [[LegacyCharacter take the superhero name]] (and at first costume and form) of her favorite superheroine.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]* Many TrappedInTVLand fanfics are about a fan of the work being sucked in and becoming a major character* ''Fanfic/EigaSentaiScanranger'' are chosen for the team because the powers they're given rely on a deep love of movies. Later the Japanese members are also revealed to be {{Tokusatsu}} fans.* Erin Frame of ''Fanfic/ForGood'' is a WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand fan-turned-Star Command cadet, as well as Buzz's adopted sister.* Most of the Kamen Riders in ''Fanfic/KoihimeMusouTalesOfTheArmoredWarGods'' were fans of the series before they became real Kamen Riders.* The smartass artist-angel Rachael in the ''Fanfic/NeonExodusEvangelion'' epilogue ''Apotheosis Now'' was based on (and named for) a popular EyrieProductions forum member who died shortly before the story was completed.* Eidolon and Shift in Roleplay/DCNation are superhero-obssessed fanboys who end up being able to put on a costume and fight evil themselves. Eidolon's encyclopediac knowledge of the superhero world is the [[BadassNormal closest thing he has to a superpower]].* DC and Rei Tanaka from the ''FanFic/TamersForeverSeries''* OC Ace Phoenix from the Megaman fan fic "FanFic/TheOmegaChronicles".* In The Franchise/{{Halo}}/Franchise/MassEffect FusionFic crossover Fanfic/TheLastSpartan, Ashley Williams becomes this indirectly when she finds herself under the command of Master Chief (who's filling the role of Commander Shepard storywise). She intensely studied the history of the Spartans and their own battlefield tactics years before meeting him and is flustered into a stuttering mess during their first off-battlefield conversation.* The ''[[Manga/DeathNote Death Note]]'' fanfic, ''Fanfic/StoryOfTheCentury'' could be looked at as a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] and [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of this trope. [[OriginalCharacter OC]] and FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator, Erin, is an [[NaiveNewcomer amateur journalist]] with a fondness for stories and movies, particularly of the thriller variety, who is studying abroad and looking for a story that will cement her reputation, or lack thereof. [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor She gets her wish…by getting dragged into the Kira case against her will]] by [[AntiHero L]] [[ManipulativeBastard himself]] after [[HeKnowsTooMuch she sees things that would threaten the confidentiality L is trying to maintain for the investigation if she told anyone.]] She watches the rest of the case unravel, and when not bombarded by the shock that accompanies each turn and twist in the plot [[WhatTheHellHero (particularly the actions that other characters [mostly L] take)]], or frustrated with her inability to stop the madness, [[UnwittingPawn whatever contributions she does make,]] [[TheFarmerAndTheViper she ends up regretting.]] [[DownerEnding By the end of the story,]] she is seen [[BreakTheCutie struggling with what sounds like PTSD, unable and unwilling to share the story of L’s and Kira’s battle with anyone]]. [[spoiler: Although [[MostWritersAreWriters she does end up]] [[IShouldWriteABookAboutThis keeping a secret journal in which she spills everything, presumably for the purpose of working out her issues in private.]] Not long after finishing, she burns the notebook, with no one any wiser. Later, she and Matsuda (and by extension, the surviving members of the task force) find each other again online after a period of separation.]]* Tsumugi Nikaido from ''FanFic/RhythmicPrettyCure'' is a fan of ''Anime/PrettyCure'' and has watched the series from its debut in 2004. Early on in episode 3, she goes on about her favourite canon character (who happens to be [[Anime/DokiDokiPrecure Mana Aida]]) and brings up her favourite Mana moment (specifically, "[[EvilLaugh She laughs in the face of terror and despair!]]") in the process. Needless to say, in episode 2 she becomes a Pretty Cure herself, having JumpedAtTheCall shortly after her brother's ballet class got interrupted by one of the Nightmare Beauties.* A bizarre Metaexample in the Blog/ReadingRainbowverse is Scorched Flame. His own blog is not an in character RP blog, but his asks are consistently treated as coming from the same dragon to the point where said dragon has appeared onscreen multiple times.* In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', Kalinka Cossack greatly admires Mega Man, and eventually becomes his girlfriend.* In ''FanFic/TheCaptainOfTheVirtualConsole'', Gancena loves video games and is called on to save them.* In the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10162829/1/There-is-no-try There Is No Try]]'' Harry is a ''Franchise/StarWars'' FanBoy so when he accidentally discovers his magic he decides he must be force sensitive. He begins his self-taught Jedi training immediately afterwards. * Cloud Strife was originally fan of SOLDIER and Sephiroth when he was younger. When Cloud joins SOLDIER for real in order to kill Sephiroth after [[PeggySue accidentally time travelling]] in ''FanFic/TheFifthAct'', he notes the {{irony}}.* ''FanFic/DumbledoresArmyAndTheYearOfDarkness'':** Colin, an out-and-out PopCulturedBadass who loves ''Film/StarWars'', plays ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', and even says he's "living the fantasy." It also explains his hero-worship of Harry and general hyperactivity throughout canon.** It's clearest when Neville meets Colin's childhood friend Brad, who is under the impression that Neville is "Lawful Good", and in [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/753597/chapters/1407644 this companion oneshot.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': After Buddy Pine is rejected as a sidekick by Mr. Incredible, [[LoonyFan he becomes Syndrome,]] the BigBad super-villain of the film. He proves to be frighteningly competent, largely from being DangerouslyGenreSavvy, though this proves in part to be his undoing. Even as a {{supervillain}}, Syndrome continues to talk about Mr. Incredible as though he were a character in a favorite comic book, critiquing his actions in terms that will be very familiar to anybody who has ever been in a comic book store.-->'''Syndrome:''' You sly dog. You got me ''[[JustBetweenYouAndMe monologuing!]]''* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'', Po only wants to see his heroes, the Furious Five, compete for the Dragon Scroll. He doesn't imagine that [[spoiler:he will be chosen to receive it himself]].** In the sequel, Po leads the Furious Five, along with [[spoiler:Master Shifu and several other famous masters]], into a glorious chage against the BigBad's army of wolves. During the slow-mo leap, you can see his gleeful expression as he looks left and right. Even moreso, this is similar to his dream at the start of the first film.* Rhino the hamster from ''Disney/{{Bolt}}''. To an even greater extent, Rhino's voice actor. Mark Walton, a storyboard artist, laid down a temporary "scratch voice" for the character of Rhino, with the assumption that a professional voice actor would later take the role. As the film moved further along, big-name actors were cast like John Travolta, Malcolm [=McDowell=], and Miley Cyrus. But they couldn't find a professional actor who made a better Rhino than Walton; in the end, Disney ended up calling him back to record the lines professionally, resulting in one of the funniest breakout Disney characters of the decade.* Deconstructed by [[spoiler: Hal/Titan]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}''. He secretly despised Metro Man because he thought Roxanne was in love with him. When [[spoiler: he gets his powers]], he attempted to impress Roxanne but when rejected, went on a childish, selfish rampage.* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'' [[spoiler: The flower kid, who idolized Queen Tara and wants to be just like her, is chosen to be her heir when the pod blooms under the full moon.]]** [[spoiler: Grub also joins the ranks of the Leafmen by the end of the film.]]* Fred from ''Disney/BigHero6'' is a comic book nerd who becomes an actual superhero, and admits that being chased by Yokai is both terrifying and awesome. His suit is based on his favorite kaiju, a monster named Krogar. -->'''[=GoGo=]:''' A lunatic in a mask just tried to kill us.\\'''Fred:''' How cool is that! I mean, it's scary, obviously, but how cool![[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]* Alex Rogan in ''Film/TheLastStarfighter''.* In a similar vein, Kevin Flynn from ''Film/{{Tron}}''. He was a video-game programmer who ran his own arcade, then gets zapped into the games themselves...-->'''Flynn:''' I shouldn't have written all of those tank programs.* And then, in ''Film/TronLegacy'' his son grows up with bedtime stories about the stuff his dad did on the other side of the screen, even having action figures of Tron and Clu on his bookshelf. Twenty years later....* A lampshade is hung on this to some extent in ''Film/GalaxyQuest''; early in the film, Tim Allen, as the star of a ''Franchise/StarTrek''-styled TV show, yells at an enthusiastic fan asking questions about minutiae of the show: "It's not real! None of it is real!" Later on, when it all turns out to be real, their lives are saved by calling on the fan's knowledge.-->'''Brandon:''' I just wanted to tell you I thought a lot about what you said. But I want you to know that I'm not a complete brain case, okay? I understand completely that it's just a TV show. I know there's no beryllium sphere, no digital conveyor, no ship...\\'''Jason Nesmith:''' ''(at the same time)'' It's okay, now listen... Hold it... Just stop for a second! It's all real.\\'''Brandon:''' Oh my God, I knew it. I knew it! I knew it!** Also the ''entire Thermian race'' [[PlanetOfHats wears the Hat of Fandom]] for the ShowWithinAShow.** A specific Thermian, Laliari, also appears at the end of the movie in the credits for its relaunch.** Guy Fleegman, who played a RedShirt in the show during its original run, is essentially this as well.* The unhappy main character in Takashi Miike's Sentai parody/homage ''Film/{{Zebraman}}'' dresses up like the title hero of his favourite cancelled TV show as a form of escapism, but eventually does battle aliens.* In the film ''Film/RockStar'', a passionate fanboy of fictional HeavyMetal band Steel Dragon becomes the group's new lead singer after the original lead singer is fired. The film is loosely based on the story of Tim "Ripper" Owens, who started out in a Judas Priest tribute band and went on to become the lead singer of Judas Priest when original singer Rob Halford took a hiatus from the band.* Brandon in Film/GalaxyQuest, the mega nerd and fanboy of the Galaxy Quest show is [[CallForAdventure called for help]] by Jason, who is on the ''real'' ship and needs his information ''right now'' to save the day. This involves sending an emergency message to his fellow mega nerds and help the ship land on Earth.* Mark Wahlberg characters act out this trope in at least two different movies -- not only ''Rock Star'', but also ''Invincible,'' in which a devoted Philadelphia Eagles fan Vince Papale tries out for the team and makes the roster. Not only that, both firms are based on real-life individuals.* In Film/RockyBalboa one of the announcers in the Rocky vs. Mason Dixon fight said he grew up as a Rocky fan and couldn't believe he was actually calling Rocky match.* Also, ''Film/{{Rudy}}'', Notre Dame's biggest fan becomes one of its most famous players, just on pure determination.* Woody Wilkins in ''Film/{{Condorman}}'' deliberately sets out to bring fame to his eponymous comic book hero by attempting all the stunts he writes about in RealLife. He convinces his CIA buddy to let him take a "routine" courier mission and winds up involved in the [[DefectorFromCommieLand defection]] of a KGB spy. In a variation of the usual trope, he is actually WrongGenreSavvy, which is where the HilarityEnsues.* In ''Film/StreetsOfFire'', one of Ellen Aim's fans decides to tag along, even giving the heroes crucial information about the Bombers. Then Tom Cody kicks her out.* In ''Film/{{Super}}'', Frank/the Crimson Bolts's sidekick Libby/Boltie is a huge comicbook geek and wants to become a superhero because of it. Subverted with Frank who, despite becoming a superhero, has little knowledge or interest in comics.* In ''Film/{{JCVD}}'', three fans meet Jean-Claude Van Damme, who plays his own role.* In ''Film/AmericanDreamer'', thanks to EasyAmnesia, Cathy Palmer lives out a life like her favorite novel heroine, [[spoiler: and even ends up with the author of those books]].* The character of Tarrence Hill in ''Film/MyNameIsNobody'' is a young gunslinger who wants to help his idol become the ultimate legend among the gunmen of the West, by ending his career in big style. He even calls himself Nobody, so it could always be said that he did all the great feats of his final months with help from Nobody, and Nobody by his side. [[spoiler:And that Nobody was able to kill him in a duel because Nobody can draw faster than him.]]* Like the comic that spawned it, ''Film/KickAss'' is built on this trope.* In ''Film/TheAvengers'', Agent Coulson fits this to a T, being a [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee fanboy of the first superhero, Captain America]], and becoming the main advocate for the Avengers Initiative, which was planned to be a team of superheroes. And that includes... you guessed it, Captain America.* Benjamin in ''Film/HanselAndGretelWitchHunters'', starts as a fan of Hansel and Gretel and collected all their newspaper articles, has a lot of witch data and his dream is to be a witch hunter like them. He gets his chance to help.* In ''Film/FreeEnterprise'', two friends are obsessed sci-fi fans who are pushing 30. One day, they meet their idol Creator/WilliamShatner. That first meeting ends up [[BrokenPedestal destroying their ideal]] [[Franchise/StarTrek Captain Kirk]] (especially when he starts rambling about a one-man Theatre/JuliusCaesar musical). By the end, though, both grow up and are shown ''filming this very movie'' with Creator/WilliamShatner playing himself.* Mark Wahlberg's character in ''Film/RockStar'' plays a singer in a Steel Dragon cover band who is hired to sing for his idols when the lead singer of the original band quits. This was inspired by the real-life case of Tim "Ripper" Owens (see the "Music" section above).* Walter in ''Film/TheMuppets'' is a Muppet fan who becomes the newest member of the gang.* Grady in ''Film/Tremors2Aftershocks'' is a fan-boy of Earl's, who talks his way into helping on that film's Graboid-hunt.* In ''Film/MacheteKills'', the BigBad Luther Voz confides that he grew up watching stuff like ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Franchise/StarWars''. He got to live the dream when he became a supervillain complete with state of the art equipment resembling stuff from those franchises.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* {{Irony}} had the last laugh on Commander Sam Vimes ''and'' Havelock Vetinari in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' book ''Discworld/{{Thud}}!''. ObstructiveBureaucrat A.E. Pessimal was sent by Lord Vetinari to inspect Vimes' operations, and neither man knew Pessimal had always wanted to join the City Watch. Vimes eventually got sick of Pessimal and made him tag along to quell a potential riot, thinking it would make him [[WelcomeToMyWorld see things from Vimes's point of view and shut him up]]. Ironically, Pessimal took to the opportunity once the shell-shock wore off, and after a display of sheer balls (trying to attack a rioting troll with his ''teeth''!) that shocked Vimes and even the usually unflappable Vetinari, Vimes decided to poach Pessimal from Vetinari, and the Ascended Fanboy got to live his dream (and do his original job simultaneously).* Possibly the oldest fictional example is that ''Literature/DonQuixote'', though rather than waiting for the CallToAdventure to come to him, he took a much more proactive approach to living out his chivalric fantasies.* Duck Zhang in the ''Literature/{{Gone}}'' series. * Done by Creator/RobertAHeinlein in 1958 in ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel'', where a boy who wants to travel in space, and even enters a contest to win his own spacesuit, gets picked up by aliens and actually does so.* Mike O'Neal, Jr, from the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheAldenata'', is a science fiction writer at the beginning of the series, and later called into service to help create the PoweredArmor and other technology to defend against the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Posleen]] [[AlienInvasion invasion]], ultimately becoming a FourStarBadass.* Ed Greenwood in ''[[TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms Shadows of Doom]]'' shows just how ''[[KudzuPlot casually]]'' this may happen to any random kid around [[CanonSue Elminster]]... and how it feels:-->"Lord Elminster! Old Mage! Make magic for us, please! Please! A dragon flying. Only a little one, just for us!"\\[...]"Nay, be not downcast, Jhaleen. I see some things, know ye, in my dreams. Things I know will come to pass, in summers still to come." He leaned close to her, and whispered for her ears alone, "I've seen thee -- much taller than now, and stern -- [[DragonRider riding a dragon]]."\\She looked into his eyes and saw truth, and her mouth dropped open in awe and trembled just a little in fear. It is one thing to dream of dragons, and quite another to know with cold certainty that someday you will be touching one. More than that; flying high above the ground on a dragon's scaly back, with empty air as high as castles beneath you, and a twisted death below should you fall.* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' features an AscendedFanboy of [[spoiler:''[[RaisingSim God games]]'']]. That is, of course, [[spoiler:The Elimist]].** Also the campers from ''The Resistance'', who are Star Trek fans on their yearly camp out to look for aliens or something.** Not to mention Erek.* Sam Yaeger from HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series starts out as a minor league ballplayer whose best days are behind him far too early. Then his love of pulp science fiction magazines really comes in handy when aliens invade, allowing him to be open-minded enough to easily deal with captured aliens and learn about their race. He eventually becomes one of the most important parts of the war effort.* ''Series/DoctorWho'' Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures:** Subverted in ''Escape Velocity''; the fanboy ''dies'', and his long-suffering girlfriend, who finds all that sci-fi stuff silly and prefers Creator/JaneAusten, starts traveling in the TARDIS against her will.** Fitz is more of a straight example -- he's more into fantasy and spy fiction than sci-fi, but it seems he won't turn his nose up at any fiction more interesting than regular existence. He's also very GenreSavvy, especially in his first appearance, where he's all but a FourthWallObserver (he comments on which act it would be if the story were a play). Fittingly, he [[ManChild harasses]] the poor long-suffering woman previously mentioned by [[Film/TheWizardOfOz repeatedly tapping his heels together and saying, "There's no place like home!"]] It's still not quite a straight example, though, as it turns out [[CowardlyLion he's pretty damn scared of the kind of stuff he likes reading about in real life.]]* The Alphas from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' were RPG enthusiasts and college students before they were taught how to become [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolves]]; now, they're one of the forces that makes sure Chicago stays safe for mortals. In a partial subversion, upon becoming werewolves, most of them went for "tough guy/gal" [[HellBentForLeather leather ensembles]]... only for them to a) look slightly ridiculous and b) turn out to be [[MagicPants massively impractical]] when the time to shapeshift came about.* [[FiveManBand The DHIs]] in ''Literature/TheKingdomKeepers'' were all fans of {{Disney}} before they were chosen to defeat the Overtakers. Although, unlike most examples, [[ResignedToTheCall they weren't exactly thrilled on their duties]].* FredricBrown's story "What Mad Universe" is about a fiction writer who reads a letter from fan. Then, a strange explosion occurs in front of him... And he is transported to an AlternateUniverse where said fan is literally the MarySue.* ''WildCards'' character Kid Dinosaur was a fan of "Aces" and nuts about dinosaurs. Then he caught the Wild Card Virus, the manifestation of which is often [[PersonalityPowers influenced by the subconscious]] of its victim. You can guess from his name what happened next.* In ''Literature/Earthweb'' by Marc Stiegler, Earth Defense [[http://www.webscription.net/10.1125/Baen/067157809X/067157809X___2.htm sponsors]] an arcade game simulating the fight against the planet-bombing Shivas to find new minds fit to lead the real thing.* In ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'', Quinn Blackwood becoming part of Lestat's coven.* Abraham Van Helsing in the original ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' novel is either this or RetiredBadass, depending on how one reads the hints in his backstory. A "metaphysician and philsopher" who has spent a good chunk of his life gathering arcane knowledge on vampires, then throws himself enthusiastically at the chance to put that knowledge to practical use.* Catherine Morland believes herself to be this in ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'' when the huge Gothic novel fan gets a chance to stay in a Gothic mansion. [[spoiler: It turns out she's actually WrongGenreSavvy.]]* R. J. Rummel's ''Never Again'' series of novels features a rather dark version of this trope. The main character, John Banks (who is an obvious [[AuthorAvatar stand-in]] for Rummel) is a professor of twentieth-century history who gets selected as one of two people to travel to the early part of that century. The dark twist is that Banks studies wars and crimes against humanity, and volunteered to go back in time in order to [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong prevent those events from happening]].* Tash Arranda of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' was fascinated by and idolized the then-extinct Jedi Order, reading everything about it that got past or around TheEmpire's censorship. She later found that like the Jedi, she was Force-Sensitive, and while in the series she [[HowDoIShotWeb struggles with her talents]], years after it is concluded she becomes part of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Order.* Deconstructed in the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' spinoff storyline ''[=SkyClan=] and the Stranger''. [[spoiler:Sol's mother always got him and his siblings to behave by telling them stories of the Sky Warriors, which were the [=SkyClan=] cats from the days before the Clan was destroyed. Sol always loved the stories of the Sky Warriors. When his mom left him at the home of a crazy cat lady, he wished that he could become a Sky Warrior, because he thought that if he did, she would come back. After he grew up, he learned that [=SkyClan=] had been rebuilt, and wanted nothing more than to become one of its members. Leafstar, [=SkyClan=]'s leader, let him join, but no matter how much he tried he didn't have what it took. She promised that she would let him become a warrior after he had proved himself, but Sol, fueled by his dreams from kithood, was impatient. To try to become a [=SkyClan=] warrior faster, he kidnapped Leafstar's kits, planning to "find" them after she realized they were missing and become a warrior because of it. Leafstar caught him however, and exiled him, realizing that he had none of the qualities of a true warrior. Because of this, Sol turned against the Clans, and vowed to destroy their CodeOfHonor to prove that it was worthless.]] Or maybe not, as it was subtly hinted that [[spoiler:Sol lied about his past to get Leafstar to pity him.]]* Joel in the ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novels ''Return of the Living Dad'' and ''The Room With No Doors'', both by Kate Orman, is a sci fi geek and fan of ''Professor X'' (the ShowWithinAShow with suspicious similarities to ''Series/DoctorWho'') who travelled back in time and found himself helping at a halfway house for stranded aliens and the like. At one point he compares himself to the gamer in panel two of the ''What's New?'' strip referenced above.* Lucy Pennykettle from [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Last Dragon Chronicles]]. Totally. Give her a chance to talk about any topic related to dragons (or squirrels) and she'll harp on for hours.* Before getting hired at Black Arts, ''Literature/{{You}}'''s Matt had devoured just about everything related to their games. Nowadays he's a member of the production team and the company's unofficial lorekeeper.* [[FatAndSkinny Lyle and Lloyd]] in Geoph Essex's ''Lovely Assistant'': they're even ''[[InvokedTrope called]]'' "the fanboys" for much of the book. They're a geeky, [[GenreSavvy trope savvy]] [[HeterosexualLifePartners pair]] who not only play major (and effective) roles in the [[FinalBattle climactic showdown]] against the [[BigBad Big Bads]], but are specifically responsible (thanks to their encyclopedic knowledge of the stuff on [[OneOfUs this very site]]) for the good guys working out the clues needed to even ''show up'' for that climactic battle.* ''Literature/ProjectNemesis'':** Ever since he was a kid Endo was a huge fan of {{Kaiju}}. When he gets the opportunity to partake in the creation of Nemesis, he is willing to kill to make his dream of seeing an actual kaiju come true.** When he watches a kaiju fight in ''Project Maigo'', he is absolutely overflowing with excitement.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]* Hiro Nakamura of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' has been a comic book junkie for years when he discovers he has superpowers of his own. It's a bit of a surprise he hasn't put together his own costume yet. He certainly ''wants'' to. He also always wanted to be his childhood hero Takezo Kensei and kiss the princess he saves. He got the chance in season 2. Hiro is also a ''literal'' AscendedFanboy, according to his father:-->'''Kaito:''' I have waited a long time for a Nakamura to ascend.* ''Franchise/StargateVerse''** Lt. Col. Mitchell from ''Series/StargateSG1'' can be considered such and is sometimes actually referred to as Lt. Col. Fanboy in fannish circles. He has memorized all their mission reports and will occasionally recite passages at top speed. He is known to have had the dream of joining SG-1 to learn from them, but was instead given leadership of said team after being shot down saving their lives, and Major General Jack O'Neill, the original leader of SG-1, promising Mitchell any command he wants if he's successful in his physical therapy. Double subverted in that when Lt. Col. Mitchell first received command of SG-1 he merely inherited the group's name and its TO&E, all the original members which he idolized had moved on to other things at that point. He managed to convince most of them to come back though. Which is probably why the other SG-1 members didn't mind him taking over the team (not that Jackson or Teal'c, being non-military, could've been put in command anyway, and Lt. Col. Carter didn't return to the team until months after Mitchell arrived). In addition, the job isn't quite perfect as Daniel and Teal'c are often annoyed by his relative inexperience. Said inexperience has also led to him receiving more than his fair share of scaths during his time on the team.** Really, [[Film/{{Stargate}} Daniel Jackson]] is one as well. He's not a speculative fiction fanboy, sure, but having [[AgentMulder his outlandish theories about Egyptology proven true]] must have tickled his fancy. Actually, he counts for [[AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence bonus points on this one, doesn't he?]]** [[IKnowMortalKombat Eli Wallace]] from ''Series/StargateUniverse'', who is recruited solely ''because'' of how much of a fanboy he is. He's also heavily implied to be the intended [[TheEveryman avatar]] for the audience.*** Well, being a fanboy and also being able to crack a complex puzzle written in a language he didn't understand, hidden in a popular online game in the hope that someone would come along and solve it.* ''Franchise/PowerRangers''** Justin from ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' can certainly qualify, especially considering his response to gaining the mantle of the Blue Turbo Ranger. Mack from ''[[Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive Operation Overdrive]]'' might be a more pronounced example, with his specific love of adventure books and sneaking off with the morpher intended for his AdventurerArchaeologist father. Dustin from ''Ninja Storm'' is a less pronounced example; he's a comic book fan whose reaction to receiving the power was "IKnewIt! Power Rangers ''are'' real!" but motocross is still his major interest.** There's more. Computer/sci-fi geek Ethan from ''[[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Dino Thunder]]'' looked about to faint when he found out he'd be a Ranger, and ''[[Series/PowerRangersMysticForce Mystic Force]]'''s Chip has been shown to be a fan of superheroes and fantasy. The main ''[[Series/PowerRangersJungleFury Jungle Fury]]'' PowerTrio also had big grins on their faces (or at least Theo did) when their mentor brought up the Rangers, just before they were presented with their own morphers. Subverted in ''[[Series/Power RangersSPD SPD]]'', where fanboy Boom is almost the only one who ''doesn't'' get a morpher at some point.** ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce'' shows Cole reacting like a typical fanboy when he meets the previous Red Rangers, even wiping a sweaty palm on his hands when he goes to shake hands with Jason.* From Franchise/SuperSentai we have Gai Ikari/Gokai Silver from ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'', a Super Sentai fan who, after nearly sacrificing his life to save a child, is given the Gokai Cellular and Gokai Silver Ranger Key from the three fallen Sixth Rangers, [[Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger Dragon Ranger]], [[Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger Time Fire]], and [[Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger Abare Killer]].** And now we have ''Series/HikoninSentaiAkibaranger'', where three otaku are made into an unofficial Sentai team. Nobuo Akagi/Akiba Red in particular is a massive Super Sentai fanboy.* All three of the Series/BigBadBeetleborgs.* Detective Kate Beckett in ''Series/{{Castle}}'' is a (closet) fan of the mystery novels of Richard Castle, who as a result of their 'partnership' has found herself the basis for Detective Nikki Heat, the protagonist of his latest novels.** By later seasons, Beckett is his girlfriend, so she has definitely taken it to the next level.* Macy on ''Series/{{Jonas}}'' is Jonas's biggest fan and runs their fan club. And luckily she goes to school with them and is best friends with their stylist. As a result she goes from acting like a buffoon around them to becoming one of their closest friends.* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' Easter 2009 Special, "Planet of the Dead", Malcolm comes off as one of these -- even applying for the job as UNIT's Scientific Adviser because he knew it was the position held by the Doctor [[TheSeventies way back when]]. He nearly dies of sheer bliss when he merely gets to talk to The Doctor over the phone.** Osgood, another UNIT scientist, from the 50th Anniversary special wears a scarf resembling the one that was [[TheUnreveal (or that may actually be the original)]] [[IconicItem trademark of the Fourth Doctor and to a lesser extent the show as a whole]] and has to be reminded to breathe into her inhaler when the prospect of meeting the Doctor and seeing the TARDIS comes up. It's likely UNIT's only requirement for hiring scientists is "must be a massive fan of the guy who used to have this job and occasionally still consults for us". * Ser Alton Lannister of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' is a huge fan of Ser Jaime Lannister. He states that the one day he squired for Jaime was the best day of his life. Jaime in turn confesses to Alton he's an AscendedFanboy of OldMaster Ser Barristan Selmy.* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': [[FinalSeasonCasting Last season addition]] Lieutenant Catherine Graves is a fan of crime and mystery novels. Even though she is not a lawyer, being savvy of those genres turns out to be quite useful on several occasions.* On a ''Series/{{Community}}'' [[Recap/CommunityS2E19CriticalFilmStudies episode,]] after repeatedly obsessing about it, Abed mentions actually becoming an extra on CougarTown, which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWfJYJMrYa0 he did actually appear on.]]* In the episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E18HollywoodBabylon "Hollywood Babylon"]] of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Dean, who is a big fan of an actress named Tara Benchley, gets to be a production assistant on a horror movie starring her.* Pretty much the basic premise of ''Series/SonnyWithAChance''.* On ''Series/LasVegas'', a fan of Wayne Newton who recently lost his job was invited to come up and sing along with him. He proved so adept at it, he was made a Wayne Newton cover singer in the same hotel.* Vera from ''Series/ViudasEHijosDelRockAndRoll''. She was a fan of Argentine rock in general, to the point that she became a music journalist. And one day, she discovered that Roby, the legend of Rock, was his lost father![[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]* Perhaps the ultimate music example was at the opening concert of Music/TheWho's ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'' tour. After playing 70 minutes into the set, Keith Moon passed out (and then a half hour later, after being revived, passed out once more). So the story goes, after playing through one more song without Moon, Pete Townsend famously asked, "Can anybody play the drums?" Enter one [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scot_Halpin Scot Halpin]], age 19 who had not played the drums in over a year but got up on stage at his friends' insistence. He finished up the show with them, competently playing three numbers before taking a bow with the band and being taken backstage and given a Who concert jacket ([[ShaggyDogStory which was unfortunately stolen later that night]]).* Music/ElectricLightOrchestra's lead singer and FaceOfTheBand Jeff Lynne conceived the band's idea with Roy Wood to be a sort of sequel to Music/TheBeatles, taking rock music in the direction "that The Beatles had left off." He later worked with former Beatles members on various projects, including TheTravelingWilburys and producing the "Threetles"[[note]]the nickname given to Music/TheBeatles minus JohnLennon, who went back into the studio together for ''The Beatles Anthology'' to record a few new singles[[/note]] singles "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love".* Once upon a time, a high school student posted [[UnsettlingGenderReveal trap]] covers of Music/{{Vocaloid}} songs on NicoNicoDouga under the handle Piko. Not only does he now have his own singing career, [[http://www.vocaloidism.com/2010/10/29/new-vocaloid-utatane-piko-announced/ he also now has his own Vocaloid.]]* After the [[AuthorExistenceFailure death]] of original Music/RedHotChiliPeppers guitarist Hillel Slovak, the band auditioned new guitarists until they discovered John Frusciante, a teenager who knew how to play every single one of their songs and was quite skilled on his own. He joined the band and was an integral member for many years before leaving to work on his solo career. Today, he is hailed as one of the greatest guitarists in the history of music.* 30 Seconds to Mars' guitarist Tomo Milicevic was a fan of the band before joining up and got the job due to his talent...and due to camping out on Jared Leto's lawn for a whole week. He was also the main person responsible for updating the band's website during "A Beautiful Lie"'s album cycle.* When Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the GratefulDead reunited to form Furthur, the latest post-Jerry Garcia Dead project, in 2009, they recruited longtime Deadhead John Kadlecik on lead guitar. To be fair, by this point JK had already becaome fairly well known in jam band circles with his own band Dark Star Orchestra. [[spoiler:Given the fact that DSO is a ''Grateful Dead tribute band'', it fits the trope.]]* Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, a.k.a. The Buggles of "Video Killed The Radio Star", were huge fans of Music/{{Yes}}. They sent a demo of one of their songs to Yes' management in 1979, hoping the band would record it. The band loved The Buggles' album ''The Age Of Plastic'' and the song the group sent to them. Unbeknownst to Horn and Downes, vocalist Jon Anderson and keyboardist Rick Wakeman had left the band, and they recruited Horn and Downes to join Yes for 1980's ''Drama'' album. Horn would later produce (or co-produce) the band's ''90125'' and ''Big Generator'' albums, along with 2011's ''Fly From Here''.** ''Fly From Here'' itself would feature an AscendedFanboy in the form of Benoit David, a Jon Anderson-soundalike (and lookalike) Canadian member of a Yes tribute band. The album would feature the song The Buggles sent to Yes to record, expended into a [[EpicRocking lengthy epic]], and would mark the return of Horn (as producer and guest vocalist) and Downes (as keyboardist), ironically enough replacing Anderson and Wakeman for the second time! :)* InUniverse example with the Foreigner song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7tzi8wkYgI Jukebox Hero]], which is about a kid who is inspired to become a rock star after sneaking into a concert.* In the fictional universe of the ''Music/TenaciousD'' television series and movie, Lee is one of these. That may be the case in real life as well.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]* AdaptationExpansion makes the title character in the 2013 musical ''Theatre/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' one of these. In all versions of the story, ''everybody'' is curious about what Willy Wonka's mysterious factory is like, but in this version Charlie Bucket's fascination with it is more personal. He is in awe of the LivingLegend's amazing creations and feats and, inspired by them, has developed quite a few ideas of his own for whimsical candies. But as a poor little kid, he doesn't have the means to realize them, so his IWantSong "A Letter to Mr. Willy Wonka" has him send a list of some of these ideas to Mr. Wonka in hopes that perhaps the great sweetmaker ''does''. In the end, [[ItWasHisSled of course]], Charlie becomes Mr. Wonka's heir...[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* Travis Touchdown of ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''. [[http://www.spike.com/video/no-more-heroes/2895042 "MOE~"]] In the second game, Travis meets his own Ascended Fan, Kimmy Howell.* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'':** {{Subverted}} with Otacon, a lonely {{Otaku}} who is determined to become one of these by building himself a real life HumongousMecha like in the {{anime}} he loved -- of course, it turns out that the mecha is going to be a new type of nuclear weapons platform and he'd let his desire to live in fiction overshadow his logic. And then it's DoubleSubverted when Otacon ends up becoming the sidekick of an action hero-esque soldier and ends up living the otaku fantasy after all.** Otacon's the most obvious, but this actually applies to most of the cast. Ocelot is a SpaghettiWestern {{Otaku}} who was [[ComicBookFantasyCasting modelled after]] Creator/LeeVanCleef, can do ridiculous gunplay tricks with his revolver and pull off complicated ManWithNoName-style backstabbing BatmanGambit, and wears spurs all the time. Major Zero is a Film/JamesBond fanboy who is also a British spy going by an intitial codename ("O") and ends up masterminding a UsefulNotes/ColdWar assassination gambit to kill another superspy. Snake makes various references to movies throughout the games, even giving his name as Iroquois ([[MeaningfulName meaning "rattlesnake"]]) [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Pliskin]] at one point, and he's based heavily on Eighties ActionHero characters. The [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming cutest example]] is probably Little John, a little boy who loves ninja manga and sci-fi about robots, and discovers at the end of ''MetalGearSolid4'' that his dad is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot robot ninja]]. Score.** Raiden also counts. As seen in codec with Kevin in ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', he recounts his history with Snake to his friends in Maverick, calling Snake as the hero of [[VideoGame/MetalGear Outer Heaven uprising]], [[VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake Zanzibar Land disturbance]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Shadow Moses incident]], [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Big Shell incident]], and his contribution in stopping [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Liquid Ocelot's insurrection]]. He also mentions that he was the best combat soldier Raiden had ever seen. Ends up getting teased as a Snake fanboy, though mostly out of disappointment no one else working at Maverick got to meet him.* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'':** ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'': Ryusei Date is a HumongousMecha otaku who pilots the machines he's admired so much. In ''Original Generation'', he gains an EvilCounterpart, Tenzan Nakajima.** [[TopWoNeraeGunbuster Noriko]] usually joins him in squeeing over all the Super Robots the heroes are carting around. And then she pilots the GunBuster.** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' gives us a rare villainous one in the form of [[spoiler: THE Edel Bernal]].* Shingo Yabuki from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' idolized Kyo Kusanagi so much that he vigorously trained so that he could join him in the titular tournament. While he may never shoot fire (somebody apparently never told him that Kusanagi powers are hereditary), he was strong enough to win a few tournaments ''and'' survive against Riot of the Blood Iori.* Sakura Kasugano from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' trained to catch up to her idol Ryu, and eventually fought him. She was even able to use the Hadoken, an impressive feat for a martial arts student with no training partner. Scarily enough, in one comic continuity before she started fangirling Ryu, Sakura was a huge fan of E. Honda, the ''sumo wrestler'', and training to be like him. Including lamenting just how much weight she still had to gain. She still respects Honda, as shown in her SubBoss fight with him in ''Alpha 3''... just not so much.* VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe is Captain Blue's biggest fan, and grew up watching Blue's movies and collecting his action figures. Needless to say, he hogged Captain Blue when those were offered to him. And let's not even get started on his {{Squee}} at meeting the [[Creator/TatsunokoProduction Tatsunoko]] heroes in ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom''. Nor his {{Squee}} towards the [[MarvelComics Marvel]] heroes in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''.* Inverted in ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice''. Almaz is a ''descended'' fanboy after his hero-idolizing tendencies gave him the wonderfully suicidal idea that he should follow in legendary hero Aurum's footsteps and go slay [[DimensionLord the Overlord of the Netherworld]]. No more than a couple of chapters later, he's now unwillingly serving as the lab rat of the Overlord's son, and wondering what the hell he was thinking. [[spoiler:There's also the fact that the "hero" in question is actually the BigBad of the game.]]* Alex from ''[[VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete]]'', who is a worshipper of the Dragonmaster Dyne, is a textbook example of this trope as he gets to be the dragonmaster and save the girl and the world.* ''Franchise/FireEmblem''** Between the 9th and 10th games, Kieran (the most patriotic character in the series, ''including'' the ones who fall under MyCountryRightOrWrong) is promoted to 2nd in command of the Royal Knights (one of Criema's highest military positions).** In the fourth game, one of the substitute characters is a pegasus knight named Femina. The girl had been raised hearing stories about the amazing knight Sigurd and his companion Ferry; she doesn't get to work with her idols [[spoiler: since they're dead]], but becomes one of the companions of Sigurd's son Celice.* The Engine 001 action RPG ''Voyage for Vengeance'' has a man in one of the cities who loves Shadowrun so much that he started his own shadow running organization which the player can eventually work for.* Cloud Strife from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': He starts out as a fan of the legendary Sephiroth who goes out to join the same organisation of {{SuperSoldier}}s, [[spoiler: doesn't even make it to said organisation and spends a lot of time delusionally thinking he did,]] and somehow ends up leading the only group that can save the world from a now even more powerful Sephiroth.* According to [[AllThereInTheManual the Ultimania guide]], as a child Seifer Almasy from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' saw a movie about a knight protecting a sorceress, which inspired both his "romantic dream" of becoming a sorceress's knight and his decision to train with the gunblade. The hero of the movie was played by Laguna Loire, [[spoiler:the father of Seifer's rival Squall Leonhart]].* Morgan [=LeFlay=] from ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' has apparently been following the career of Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate, since he first defeated [=LeChuck=], and is honored to cross swords with her idol.** She clearly wants more than just "cross swords" with him. Unfortunately for her, Guybrush is devoted to Elaine and is completely oblivious to Morgan's advances.* Liberty Lad from ''VideoGame/FreedomForce'' starts off as an obnoxious LoonyFan that follows the heroes around and needs to be protected in a [[EscortMission quasi-escort mission]]. Eventually he ends up [[spoiler:taking a bullet for his hero that possesses superhuman endurance and is largely immune to bullets, gets a [[DeusExMachina magical operation]], and]] turns into Liberty Lad.* Stephanie Morgan of ''VideoGame/BackyardSports'' says in the original ''Backyard Baseball'' that she wants to be in the hall of fame next to Cal Ripken Jr. In the 2001 version, Morgan and Ripken are both playable, so you can make this happen yourself.* Jann Lee from ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive''. He's that good and arrogant in using his ''Jeet Kune Do'' because when he was little, he used to watch BruceLee movies all the time [[spoiler:as a mean to escape the harsh reality of being bullied by the locals for being a weakling. He TookALevelInBadass as a result]].* ''Franchise/MassEffect''** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has Legion, a [[MechanicalLifeforms geth]] who is implied to look up to [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]]; it used a piece of his / her old armor for field repair to its platform, and becomes kind of evasive if you ask why. Compare to [[HeroicWannabe Conrad Verner]].** Kasumi as well. Cerberus tried to find her and when she found out, she did some investigating to find out they have Shepard brought BackFromTheDead, and from there she offered a fee, introduced herself to Shepard as a fan, left the emotional baggage other crew members have behind and only asked that Shepard consider helping her on a heist to recover her lover's greybox.* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' Zoey is fan of zombie apocalypse films, now she faces of a real zombie apocalypse.* Raz, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}},'' basically memorized all of the in-universe ''True Psychic Tales'' comics before getting a chance to actually become a Psychonaut.* Goombario from the first ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' introduces himself as Mario's [[ImYourBiggestFan number one fan]]. He joins Mario in his quest as his first partner.* According to the [[AllThereInTheManual collector's edition strategy guide]] for ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', there are hints of this for the young Caesar. He starts out a fan of comic books (he may mention the ''Grognak the Barbarian'' series in-game), action/adventure, and history, which culminates in finding texts on the nitty-gritty of the Roman Empire: "Such adventure! And intrigue! And cool uniforms!" He proceeds to swipe it whole-cloth for his own would-be empire.* 9-volt and 18-volt from ''VideoGame/WarioWare'' are the biggest Nintendo fanboys, making Nintendo microgames and owning everything Nintendo worked on. And 9-volt was working for Wario untill DIY for unknown reasons and 18-volt still works for him.* The player Loganius from ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'' with his character Duratok Gorehowl. He won an official costume contest and his price was being made an official character. Players can now buy a "Sidekick Device" that summons an NPC Duratok to your side for the duration of one hour.* Luke Triton, in the ''Franchise/ProfessorLayton'' games, is a variant on the trope. In ''Unwound Future'', he remarks that he's a big fan of the Literature/SherlockHolmes stories and has read them all many times... which makes his role as TheWatson to the Professor's Holmes all the more fitting.* Eddie Riggs from ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend''. At the beginning of the game, he's a professional roadie bemoaning how modern music is progressively less and less metal... then he's TrappedInAnotherWorld where absolutely everything is based on heavy metal in the [[WorldOfBadass most over-the-top]] [[SceneryPorn way possible]].-->'''Eddie:''' Y'know, I haven't mentioned it yet but this place is ''nuts''!* In the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' mission "Meltdown", Jimmy, a hardcore fan of FPS games, gets to live one out when he [[spoiler:[[BigDamnHeroes saves Michael's life]] and then teabags the guy who tried to kill him. Only it turns out that, since Jimmy couldn't see what he was doing in the darkened hall, he was actually teabagging ''Michael''.]]* In the ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'' PlayStation game, Seiichirou Shiba is a huge fan of Hayato as a young boy and he watches him win 10th GP finals and the championship. Years later he becomes a racer, joins the secondary team of Hayato's team and competes in a race with him.* Ryusei Date of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha'' and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' was a big giant robot fan who ended up [[FallingIntoTheCockpit getting recruited]] by the TheFederation after realizing [[IKnowMortalKombat his skills in the "Burning PT" video game greatly translated to mecha piloting]]. That, and his amazing Psychodriver powers.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]* [[spoiler:Sol]] and Kei in ''Webcomic/CircumstancesOfTheRevenantBraves'' are {{otaku}} that end up with super powers.* Thoroughly deconstructed in ''Webcomics/{{Fans}}'', where all of the heroes (and several of the villains) were of this type. It was most poignantly subverted with a character actually known in-story as [[http://www.graphicsmash.com//comics/fans.php?view=archive&chapter=5649&name=fans Tim the Fanboy]], who had become a fan of the ''previous'' heroic fans, [[spoiler:only to turn on them when he felt they had let him down]].* In the korean webcomic, ''Webcomic/TaleOfEunAran'', we find out after Aran is gifted with superhuman fighting skills and power that he would spend his days playing games and daydreaming about fighting evil. * Parson Gotti from ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' is sucked into the title universe at a typically ironic moment (right after saying "See if I could, like, literally escape into one of these games, I'd do it in a second. Just snap my fingers and teleport right in? Absolutely. Bam! Seeya!"). This occurs with the memorable [[UnsoundEffect sound effect]], "[[LampshadeHanging PLOT!]]"* ''Webcomic/TheGamer'': Han is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who loves [=RPGs=] and wakes up one day to find that his life has become an RPGMechanicsVerse, in which he can see everyone's stats and levels, and he can also tangibly increase both his strength and knowledge by performing menial tasks and grinding. Things become even more exciting for him later on when he finds out that there are other people out there with strange powers who often do battle. * ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'''s Piro (the character, not the author avatar) is an Ascended Fanboy: he is currently dating the idolized [[{{Seiyuu}} voice actress]] of a character in one of the {{Dating Sim}}s he's a fan of. He's also doing the art for the game now. Her fans actually hail him as an AscendedFanboy at one point, electing him as their leader. Piro seems in equal parts terrified, sickened and proud, not least because their excesses are no worse than what he would have done in their position.* ''[[http://emi-art.com/twtyh/ The Way to Your Heart]]''** Ultra-fanboy Eizo gets many encounters with his idols in the band Orochi thanks to his friendship with Yumi, leading up to him flying with the band to Hawaii for the wedding of Shuya and Musashi and even sharing a hotel room with the band members... albeit drooling and tied up to keep him under control.** Yumi herself goes from knowing nothing about visual kei, to adoring Orochi's music, to dating the drummer. Quite an ascension!* Subverted in ''Webcomic/SparklingGenerationValkyrieYuuki'' where a MagicalGirl fan becomes something akin to a Magical Girl herself and is not happy, mainly because said fan was [[PeripheryDemographic male]] [[GenderBender until these powers were activated]]. In fact it was Hermod's idea to hide inside a DVD because he thought a Magical Girl Anime fan would make an ideal candidate to become the next valkyrie. Obviously it didn't work out as planned.* Quentyn of ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'' started out as a fan of the wonder-tales about the legendary Questors, before becoming a Questor himself. He even at one point uses his fan knowledge to find a way to defeat a plague of wights.* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has Dex, the most unkempt regular of Justin's comic shop. Upon [[http://egscomics.com/?date=2011-05-27 waking up]] at the place he can't remember visiting and in a rather strange company he found himself in a "familiar" environment:-->'''Dex:''' A [[HalfHumanHybrid furry]]... A black mage... And... haven't I seen you cosplaying as Chun-Li?* Walter from ''Webcomic/DubiousCompany'' is an ascended pirate. As a kid, he would read pirate comics during class. As an adult, he got a degree in {{Magitek}} engineering, built his own CoolAirship, and became a pirate. He has [[DidntThinkThisThrough increasing]] [[AttackAttackRetreatRetreat degrees]] of [[DarkHorseVictory success]] before the main plot built up.* ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'' has a [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=408 sad and simple creature]] -- penguin Pip, [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=60 comic]]- and [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=292 movie]]- obsessed geek. Who has to become "[[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=293 PIP DANGEROUS!]]". Later a bunch of [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=700 Flying Martian Trashcans]] wrecked his house and while the resident MadScientist team followed them to orbit, he [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=712 discovers]] a crowd of bored [[AdorableEvilMinions Denizens]] and [[spoiler:a stash of {{space fighter}}s]] they built in the basement -- Denizens are impressive and tend to imitate what they see, so watching ''Franchise/StarWars'' and [[HiveMind Think Tank]] weaponizing stuff when left unattended...-->'''Pip:''' [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=719 Kick ass, boys!]]* Euryale of ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'' has heard about what the rest of the cast has done, and thinks they're the most awesome people ever. When she finally got the chance to meet her heroes, she was [[{{Squee}} quite excited.]]* [[spoiler: uranianUmbra]] of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is shown to be a fan of the cast -- by creating FanArt, FanFiction and {{Epileptic Tree}}s. WordOfGod [[http://twitter.com/andrewhussie/status/16773057685238988 confirms]] that the character is meant to be an "[[MetaGuy obnoxious fandom avatar]]".* Sage Freehaven became one in ''WebComic/LasLindas'' and became the cannon love interest to the lepord woman with the biggest breasts in the comic.** And it looks like he might be set up as an artist for the same DatingSim game she's voice acting in.* Sydney, the protagonist of ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'', is a highly active (and hyperactive) comics geek who becomes a superhero.* In ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'':** Sandra was a fan of the "Carmen Chamelia" videogame in her youth. During the story, she ends up modelling as Carmen for the reboot of the game. She does have to take a crash course in contemporary geekery, though.** Marie is a general gamer fangirl who also gets some MotionCapture work at a games company -- and thus ends up working alongside her heroine, Sandra.* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Gary starts the comic as a geek working in a call centre, with dreams of a career in comics art. He eventually gets some encouragement and training from his artistic idol, though that plotline fizzles out. Then, he swings a job interview with a videogames company. (In both cases, although Gary seems to be quite talented, the key is who he knows, not what he knows.)* Eli in ''WebComic/SurvivorFanCharacters'' is this taken UpToEleven. Deconstructed, [[SelfFulfillingProphecy as the result of him seeing "flags" or foreshadowing is him inadvertently doing everything in his power to make it happen rather than trying to change it.]] [[spoiler:He allowed himself to get so caught up in sensing edits to the point where he ended up allowing Angel to win.]][[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'' has Kit Baxter starting out as a fan and his chauffeur, than blackmailed her way into becoming his sidekick, [[spoiler:and now his wife]]* ''Roleplay/MSFHighForum'': Matoi Nanashi, a massive fan of Super Sentai and Kamen Rider is shaping up to be this. He even has gained a pair of boots that allow him to perform a Rider Kick (though none of his attempts at using it on someone have succeeded so far).* Warrick Kaine of ''Literature/TheDescendants'' grew up dreaming of becoming a GadgeteerGenius BadassNormal. Then one day he discovered that instead, he'd gorwn up to be ExtraOreDinary.* Stereo, Phono and Minijack, the appropriately named [=FanBoyz=], are the three biggest fans of the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers, a group their classmates are sure doesn't exist. They post dance videos of themselves on the internet in an effort to get the LXD's attention, hoping to join them. Imagine their surprise when they each recive an invitation to join.* ''Roleplay/TheTandyArena'' has Vikki Pertierra going from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' to Arena moderator, among other things.* Many Agents of the FanFic/AntiClicheAndMarySueEliminationSociety started out as simple fans of the Society before deciding to join.* Paolo emailed Harvey Morenstein asking for advice on how to do his own epic meal. The cast and crew of ''WebVideo/EpicMealTime'' road-tripped to his location and cooked with him.* Several current contributors on ''Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses'' were fans of the show before they were picked up, even being inspired to make their own reviews after finding the site.* On the video game music podcast ''Podcast/NitroGameInjection'', Suraida, the newest co-host, was originally a dedicated listener. She ended up being invited onto the show for episode #142 to fill in for one of the other hosts, returning for a few more episodes before popular demand from fans led her to becoming a semi-regular co-host.* A number of characters in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', both on the main site and the Minis, have watched clips of previous seasons, whether out of some degree of BileFascination, [[NightmareFetishist weird interests]], or both. They tend to be WrongGenreSavvy as much as being genuinely GenreSavvy. In addition, ''Virtua'' has Katie Tanaka, a [[TheWestern western movie]] FanGirl who ends up in its WildWest setting.* ''WebVideo/TheGuild'': [[spoiler:Codex gets a job with the creator of The Game]] at the end of season 5.* In one of the ADayInTheLimelight "Interlude" episodes of ''Literature/{{Worm}}''[[note]][[http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/03/16/interlude-19-y/ Interlude 19 (Donation Bonus #2)]][[/note]], we see a forum thread on the in-universe website [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Parahumans]] Online in which a longtime fan of [[spoiler:Bitch/Hellhound/Rachel]] ask how one might [[IHaveThisFriend hypothetically]] become a minion. Said fan posts later in the thread to say it turned out "Harder than I thought but all good."* Mega-Girl of the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' is a lifetime New Yorker (her father is a cop) who is a huge fan of the Empire City Guard, the city's top superhero group. Once she turns fourteen and gets superpowers (she's a major FlyingBrick) she lobbies constantly for them to let her join up. In the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, it's illegal for people to superhero before they turn eighteen, so right now she's just a huge headache for the Empire City Guard.* In ''Roleplay/WeAreOurAvatars'', Argentum wanted to become a superhero because he watched it on TV. Thankfully, he's [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney rich]], and had the [[SuperpowerfulGenetics Ultimate Gene]].* ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', has a few cases:** Judge Dead was a player before becoming a Game Master in the backstory. ** [[spoiler:Omega Zell eventually joins Justice guild in Season 4/the skip between novels 4 and 5.]] ** [[spoiler:Arthéon gets a job controlling a game character/boss in the fourth novel/Season 5.]]* Takahata101 from TeamFourStar has officially become one with the release of Dragon Ball Xenoverse. Voice #8 for male created characters is literally him as Ghost Nappa.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* This is basically the entire premise of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. A lot of humor in the early episodes drew on Fry's expectations of the future as a sci-fi fanboy and how much the actual future either did or did not fit them.* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}!'' actually has a character ''called'' Fan Boy, who tries desperately to find someone who would let him be their sidekick. Freak only manages to shake him by pawning him off on MarkHamill. WordOfGod says he was based on PromotedFanboy PaulDini.* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has Irving, a clear fan boy {{expy}} who seems to have perfect knowledge of the two brothers adventures and catchphrases... to the point that one must ask '''how''' the hell he could [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall possibly know so much about the show's history]]. He started as a one-off character but is starting to appear almost as much as Phineas and Ferb's other friends. It's been extended to the point that it's been revealed he's had hidden cameras all over Danville, chronicling their adventures, including the first one.* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the meta-tastic villain Control Freak is the Titans' self-proclaimed Number One Fan. He is a caricature of the stereotypical lank-haired, overweight geek, complete with overfondness for lightsabers and trenchcoats. One of his two feature episodes is chock-full of fandom references, up to and including online ship-wars. Control Freak is also tremendously disappointed in one of these episodes to discover that the Titans East (a group of C-listers he's never even heard of before) are substituting for the "real" Titans while they're away on a long-term mission, and thus the gadgets he'd designed specifically to challenge the Titans were wasted. As the Titans East have completely different powers, he escapes and comes up with new weapons to fight them... and becomes a fanboy of the Titans East as well once they defeat him.** He also becomes disappointed when he finds out that the Teen Titans don't even consider him an actual villain when he discovers their list of villains and doesn't find himself listed, but instead finds The Puppet King's name- a villain they had only encountered once.* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', Monarch Henchman 21 obviously longs to be one of these. Very closely gets there when he discovers a prototype [[LaserBlade lightsaber]] among Dr. Venture's yard sale. He buys it (with his boss' money) and subsequently challenges Dr. Venture's {{Badass}} bodyguard [[MadeOfIron Brock Samson]] to a fight, only to find out the "lightsaber" is just a hologram. [[CrapsackWorld Such is life in the Venture universe]].* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', Numbuh 3 is an Ascended Fan''girl''. For the entire series she is obsessed with a range of multiple-hued stuffed monkeys called "Rainbow Monkeys". During the SeriesFinale it is revealed she becomes president of the entire Rainbow Monkey Corporation.* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' has Zach, a bratty kid with aspirations of being the fifth turtle.* From the ''WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' cartoon, it's Lorne, "''The Friend for Liiife!''"* [[BlowYouAway Wind Dragon]], Samurai's CaptainErsatz in ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]''.* Static and Gear in ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' are this; they are comic book geeks and get really excited when they finally meet the Justice League and get to visit the JL tower. They never really planned on becoming superheroes themselves until Static got his powers. Gear gives him the idea of becoming a superhero, and it's pretty much all for fun for the two of them until the Special Episodes. Gear wishes he had powers after a while, then figures out two seasons later that he had had them all this time, they just weren't as flashy as Static's. He immediately joins Static in fighting crime.* As mentioned on the LoonyFan page, Sierra of ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama World Tour'' is one of these.** Zoey as her first confessional in ''Revenge of the Island'' would indicate.* Batman ''himself'' is revealed to be one in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Beware The Gray Ghost". As a kid, Bruce used to watch episodes of the superhero TV series called ''The Gray Ghost'' with his father, and this was an influence on his decision to become a superhero. Batman reveals this to the actor who played Gray Ghost (voiced by Creator/AdamWest), who expresses relief that the show did some good in the world.-->'''Simon Trent:''' ''(amazed)'' So... it ''wasn't'' all for nothing.* SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker [[DidntSeeThatComing himself]] is guilty of this in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' towards the Weeper. To be fair, it ''was'' the father of modern, gimmicked supervillainy, so he ''had'' a good reason to {{squee}}.** ComicBook/BlueBeetle is another example. He idolizes Batman and most of the other superheroes he comes across, and takes photos of the JLA Satellite after being inducted into the [[ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational Justice League]].* Princess Morbucks from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' was a huge fan of the Powerpuffs who was jealous that they wouldn't let her join their group. She responded by using her money to get her own suit built with the same powers, and became a super-villain dedicated to defeating the Powerpuff Girls. She's been a pretty formidable opponent in some episodes.* This is the entire concept of the 80s cartoon series ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster''. [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Kevin Keene]] was a huge Nintendo gamer when he gets sucked into his TV while playing ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!''. He finds out that he is [[TheChosenOne the hero]] for VideoLand and he works alongside some of his favorite game legends, like Kid Icarus, Simon Belmont, Link, Bayou Billy, and Mega Man.* In ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'', [[HandicappedBadass Garrett]] was a die-hard fan of the originals, which was why he signed up for Egon's class. [[BlackAndNerdy Roland]] also qualifies. Being a techie, he was quite fascinated by Ecto-1 and their hardware in general. And then they suddenly become the Ghostbusters themselves....** [[PerkyGoth Kylie]] is perhaps a bigger fan than any of her teammates, loving anything about the supernatural and being a HeroWorshipper to Egon Spengler, so much so that she was accused of being HotForTeacher in an early episode. Really, the only person in the whole team that wasn't a fanboy of sorts is Eduardo who took Egon's class because he thought it was an easy grade.* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' featured Kenny playing a video game, only to find out the game was created by angels so they could find out who would be the best person in the world at leading their army against Satan.* Enzo of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' is a textbook example, being obsessed with the guardians, and Bob in particular. He is given the basic Guardian protocols by Bob before the [[DownerEnding Season 2 ending]]. However in the comic after Season 4 he is now a Cadet with his very own Gadget Watch.* Impulse in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' comes across as a massive superhero fanboy, though his demeanor is at least partly meant to hide the fact that [[spoiler: he comes from a BadFuture where most of Earth's superheroes are supposedly dead]].** Inverted with Captain Marvel. Despite being an established member of the Justice League, he really wants to hang out with the members of Young Justice (because he's really just a kid, and thinks the teenage heroes are cool), making him something of a ''descended'' fanboy.* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", the actress who plays Princess Penelope is shown to have been a lifelong fan of Krusty and the two then have a romantic relationship.* In ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'', [[InspectorLestrade Inspector Beth Lestrade]] goes from being a Sherlockian to being the supervising officer of Literature/SherlockHolmes. [[spoiler: And, in the end, ''marries'' Holmes]].* This is the ultimate goal of Rainbow Dash in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic.'' She idolizes the pegasus stunt flyer group the Wonderbolts and aspires above all else to join them. Later, she learns that her favorite literature hero, Daring Do, is actually based on a real person, and gets to help her on a mission.* Booster from ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand''. In the pilot movie, he starts as being the janitor of Star Command's headquarters station and a major fan of the Space Rangers (Buzz especially), and is studying the manual so that one day he can take and pass the Academy entrance exam. Due to various hijinx, he ends up with Buzz and new ranger Mira Nova on Planet Z and helps them thwart Evil Emperor Zurg's scheme, leading to him being made a Space Ranger himself.* In "The Front", an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Bart and Lisa co-write a fan script for an ''Itchy & Scratchy'' episode (using Grandpa Simpson as an alias) and end up getting picked up as regular writers, at least until Grandpa grows wise to what kind of show ''Itchy & Scratchy'' really is and quits.* Mikey from ''WesternAnimation/KappaMikey'' is one of these. He won a contest or something, and moved to Japan to be part of that show.* Season 3 BigBad Zaheer from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' is a villainous example. He was a dedicated student of Air Nomad culture who followed a more violent interpretation of its teachings. Then the Harmonic Convergence makes him an airbender. He sees his new power as a gift from the heavens and a sign that his goals are righteous.[[/folder]]